Who I'm Talking About
by EE's Skysong
Summary: Sissi's POV. I put my hands on my hips. Why do I get the feeling this date will be one long insult war? 'Because it will be if you insist on acting like a junior high student.' OddxSissi


Disclaimer: "Hey now, what is it you think you see? My darling, now's the time to disagree Say hello to good times"

(An: This is basically me having fun with my favorite couple. This comes after "Replacement" and "Moving On", properly speaking, but pretty much everything from them gets explained. And this one isn't serious. At all. Don't look for anything as smart as those two. Oh, the only thing you really need to know is that Sissi, Odd, and Ulrich are all around eighteen.)

Odd reached over and fingered a strand of my newly-cut hair. "This looks nice." He pressed a flower into my hand and a kiss on my cheek. "C'mon." He grabbed my hand (the one without the flower) and pulled me out of my apartment.

I had no idea what I was doing. Odd was not the kind of guy I wanted for a boyfriend. But still I was letting him drag me outside on a date.

Admittedly, he had helped me get over Ulrich- or, at least, get as far as I was in getting over him.

But still. It was _Odd_ I was talking about. Odd, the rude, absolutely horrid boy who could make me feel self-concious with a glance, something no one else could do (not even Ulrich) and who could kiss me like-

I shook myself. That was probably a good path to stay away from, current circumstances considered. Snapping back to reality, I realized Odd was smirking at me. I treated him to my best dose of scorn, crossing my arms and looking him over with a "You're kidding, right?" attitude. "What?"

"And although we're all here," Odd hummed, "we're not all there!"

I blinked.

"I just insulted you, dear."

"Don't call me dear!"

Odd shrugged. "Whatever," he said, with a mock bow.

I put my hands on my hips. "Why do I get the feeling this date is going to be one long insult war?"

"Because it will be if you insist on acting like a junior high student."

I gave him the derisive onceover again. That usually shut him up. "You're one to talk, Della Robbia."

"She speaks! O, speak again, bright angel!" Odd gasped, clasping his hands beneath his chin and sighing blissfully.

I just raised an eyebrow, but inside I was wondering how much of it was an act. At our last meeting he _had_ claimed to be in love with me, but still! It was _Odd_! I hated him! He was out of the question. Absolutely.

Odd smirked at me again. I loathed that smirk. It suggested that he knew everything that went through my head and found it hilarious.

"Screw you, Odd," I replied, but I sounded half-assed. I crossed my arms and redoubled my glare to make up for it.

He winked at me. I wanted to kill him for that. Absolutely _murder_ him. He sidled up beside me and whispered in my ear. "You know you wanna..."

"You're an idiot," I snapped, but I was still missing my usual cool. _Get a _grip, _Delmas!_

Odd just smiled and shook his head. "Now, then, we're going to be late."

"For what?"

Odd raised an eyebrow. "Sissi, it's me. Where would I take you on a date?"

"Please tell me you still don't have four stomachs."

He grinned.

"Ok, whatever, but you're paying."

"Sissi, dearest, don't insult me."

My eye twitched. I had known it was a mistake to let him know that that nickname bugged me (Odd liked latching onto annoying things), but, like I said, anything that reminded me of his crush severely freaked me out.

Odd yanked me off, leading me to a resteraunt. I have to admit, the walk wasn't so bad. When he wasn't actively trying to annoy me, he was pretty nice.

It was _weird_, ok?

Any nice feelings that I was cultivating for Odd (I'm not saying there _were_ any) were squashed when we got in the resteraunt and I saw who was waving at us.

"No," I said. "Oh, no. Absolutely _not_."

When Ulrich noticed me, his smile turned tentative. Our last face-to-face meeting hadn't ended well; he'd kissed me and I'd ran off upset, realizing that, to him, I'd always be second-best. And the last time I'd talked to him had been on the phone; Odd had confronted mea year after Ulrich's disastrous kiss and (in the same conversation he'd asked me out) had convinced me I need to talk to Ulrich. I won't tell what we talked about. It was way too awkward and personal. Everything was ok between me and Ulrich now, but seeing him again was not high on my list of things to do.

"Sissi," said Odd, in a patient, calm tone, "think about it. Would you rather meet up with Ulrich with me, or would you rather run into him on the street one day by yourself?"

I hated it when he had a point. I sighed, squared myself, and smiled back. It was probably a pretty creepy smile, but it was sincere. Mostly.

"Good girl." Odd laced fingers with me and walked me inside. Ok, it was more of a drag, but still. I couldn't be expected to frisk to a situation like this, now could I?

We were in a booth in the back, Ulrich on one side and me and Odd on the other. Odd squeezed my hand before releasing it as we sat down.

Ulrich smiled at me, a smile that used to make my heart turn over. I was gratified to see that it got no response from any organs now, except a little nervousness in the pit of my stomach. "Hi, Sissi." His voice was deeper than it had been in school, and I was ok with that.

"Hello," I mumbled. I wasn't ok with the near-squeak in my voice. _I repeat: get a _GRIP!

An awkward silence probably would have settled over the table then, except Odd was not the type to keep quiet. "Nice shiner," he said, indicating the yellowing bruise under Ulrich's left eye. "Did someone hit you in the face with a board again?"

Ulrich laughed. Unlike me, he seemed to find the situation perfectly natural. He'd changed after Yumi's death; he took things more in stride. I suppose after the love of your life dies, it's hard to get upset over little things.

Considering what he'd been through, I made myself look him in the eye, knowing that the fact that I could view Yumi as someone who hadn't been my friend, but had been the dearest in the world to someone who was, was a sign that I really had gotten over him.

"Actually, no," said Ulrich, grinning at me now. "This time it was a brick."

This startled a laugh out of _me_.

"Those darn newbies," gasped Odd, who had found this hysterical. "Stupid, huh?"

"Not necessarily, they just don't aim."

I giggled again. "Well, that's one thing that hasn't changed. He still makes better jokes than you, Odd."

"You wound me, dearest," Odd cried, putting his hands over his heart.

From the way a corner of Ulrich's mouth went up, I guessed he had known about Odd's thing for me.

My eye twitched again. If I hung out with Odd much more, I was probably going to develop a permanent tic.

Odd snickered under his breath and I resisted the urge to shove him out of the booth. If we had been in a less classy place, I would have, but this was posh.

"That's what I was aiming for," I replied, affectingcontempt rather than violence this time.

"God, I feel loved!"

"Why do you get along with him?" I demanded of Ulrich.

He shrugged. "Trust me, I ask myself that every day."

"Betrayed by the closest of friends, oh cruel fate!" Odd sobbed.

"Melodramatic fool," I replied.

"Ice queen."

"Can we skip the insult war?" Ulrich asked. Affecting Odd's overacted tone, he sighed, "My wits faint."

Odd held his hands high above the table and applauded. "Let's have a moment for Ulrich, Ulrich people!"

"Thank you, thank you."

I propped my chin on my fist. Now I definitely wished we'd gone to a smaller resteraunt. Being stuck with Odd and Ulrich in crazy mode for a full French dinner? God help us all.

The rest of the meal was exactly as I expected: tasty, random, and banter-filled. Hurting Odd was a concept that crossed my mind several times.

Several hours later, Ulrich parted ways with me and Odd. "I have to admit," I said, stretching, "I expected better. This wasn't much of a date, Della Robbia."

Odd shrugged. "It's not over yet, Miss Delmas."

I paused, looking at him curiously.

"Do you honestly think I would spend my first date with you with Ulrich?" He scoffed. "I want to have at least _some _of it with you to myself."

I fiddled with my hair. "Odd, why are you doing this?"

He looked amused. "Is it really so hard to imagine I might like you?" He took my hands. "You're pretty, you're smart and nice when you want to be... you're the most annoying girl I've ever met, sure, but I like that, too." He put a hand on my face and added, quieter, "I probably am being stupid, still chasing you... but I like thinking you care."

He was stroking my cheek now, which made it hard to think. "I do care," I mumbled, shyly fingering a strand that had come loose from his ponytail. "I'm just... not sure how much."

Odd smiled, leaning his forehead against mine. "I don't think I've ever seen you shy before."

I shrugged, uncomfortable. All right, I was freaking out. I mean, the last time I'd had Odd this close to me, well... I liked to think of it as molestation, but really, it hadn't been so bad. The second time, at least. I'd been pissed the first time. He was probably going to kiss me again now, and I could just jerk my hand out of his, glare at him or slap him or something equally final and just walk away.

But he was smiling at me so sweetly and, if I thought about it, it was _Odd,_ after all, annoying, sweet, ridiculous Odd.

My excuse for letting Odd kiss me is that I was very confused right then. Not because I liked kissing him or anything... Ok, so maybe I liked _this_ one. If you're like me and you've been stalked by boys all your life, you know that it doesn't mean something every time you bump lips with a boy. Mostly, it doesn't. The other times he'd kissed me were weird. This one was actually... nice. Still weird, just not nearly as much.

"It's nice to be loved," Odd murmured when he backed away. "Come on. I'll take you somewhere." Before I could protest that I was _definitely_ not interested in him that way, he had pulled me off again.

(I told you it wasn't going to be smart... eh, I've been reading too many silly romance books. I need to read something smart, dammit! ...-coughs- Er, review.)


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